Rough Seas, Part 3 Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Rough Seas, Part 3 ------------------- Date: 2/17/2003 Keywords: "confusion” “courage” “courageous” “hopeless” “pain” “storm" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Mark 6:45-52* 45. Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50. For they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." 51. Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were utterly astonished, 52. For they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. Questions 1. What is courage?   2. Do you believe yourself to be courageous? If so, why? If not, why not?   Practical help Over the past two studies we have considered storms. We have found that storms are a necessary, although unpleasant, aspect of life and that their existence does not prove that God doesn’t love or doesn’t care. Today, let’s focus on Jesus’ words in verse 50. Note that He speaks to the terrified disciples before he calms the winds. What we want is for the storm to go away. What God wants is for us to listen even in the midst of the storm. He tells them three things. First, “Take courage.” How can people who fear, stop fearing? Unless, courage is not the absence or hiding of fear, this statement doesn’t help. Perhaps “taking courage” is not diminishing the feeling of fear, but deciding to control those emotions we have in the midst of fear and to do those things we know we must do. The second statement is, “It is I.” Unless they could see that Jesus was able to help them, this would not have been a comforting statement either. The last statement, “Do not be afraid,” sounds sort of like “Take courage,” so why did He repeat Himself? When you don’t have Jesus, or don’t know you have Jesus, you need to take courage. When you know it is Jesus speaking, you only have to be reminded to be fearless. In the same way He calmed the winds, He calmed their fears. In the midst of a porn storm you need to take courage. Act courageously by removing the temptation and finding help. Admitting a weakness is frankly a courageous act. Secondly, Jesus is with you. He has never left you. Listen to Him. And as you trust the Savior, your emotions will calm down. Peace, be still! eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2003 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission." ---